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Understanding Addiction and Recovery from a Clinical Perspective

The Importance of Individual Counseling

Individual counseling plays a very important role in inpatient rehab. Every rehab of good repute provides its clients with individual counseling. Group counseling and support groups are also vital components, but individual counseling is a method of eradicating underlying addiction causes that cannot be dealt with in any other way. It is an atmosphere where a client can let themselves become totally vulnerable and honest in the safe presence of a professional counselor without fear of shame or judgment. Every component of inpatient rehab is important, but individual counseling is frequently an area where clients make the most progress.

The cognitive behavioral work that takes place within individual counseling is very important to a recovering addict’s mental health. The negative thought and behavior patterns that are ingrained in an addict’s psychology have been affecting the person for so long that they typically play out on a subconscious level. Most addicts cannot explain why they are addicted or what life events pushed them toward addiction. They simply know that engaging in their addiction distracts them from the negative thought and behavior patterns they play out. Only a professional counselor has the training to make sense of these thoughts and behaviors that the addict is not totally conscious of.

Many times, an addict will be struggling with a mental disorder that has not been diagnosed. When a person is battling an addiction and a mental disorder, it is called a dual diagnosis, or co-occurring disorder. The trouble is, many people do not have their mental disorder diagnosed. For this demographic, individual counseling within inpatient rehabilitation is vital to understanding their psychological profile and receiving appropriate treatment. This is why individual counseling within rehab should not be considered optional.

And lastly, individual counseling in inpatient rehab is important to the clients so that they can practice relationship skills and trust building. A person’s relationship with their private counselor is a very important human relationship. The client reveals very personal information to their counselor and experiences trust in their professional conduct.